A person""s hearing can be protected by a banded earmuff which includes a pair of pods with openings that receive much of each ear and a band that connects the pods and that presses them together and against the sides of the person""s head. The band can extend behind the person""s head, but some people find it more comfortable to have the band extend around the top of the head or under the chin. It is desirable to allow the band to pivot with respect to the pods and to enable adjustment of effective band length so the band can fit closely against the person""s head in any orientation and for persons with different size heads.
Previously, banded earmuffs that allow adjustment of band length and pivoting of the band with respect to the ear pods, were complex and expensive. This often resulted in employers not providing banded earmuffs, but only earplugs that had to be inserted into the person""s ear canal. Some people found such earplugs to be uncomfortable and/or difficult to properly install. A versatile banded earmuff of simple and low cost construction, would enable banded earmuffs to be more widely used.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a banded earmuff is provided which is of simple and low cost construction, and yet which is versatile to allow the band to pivot to different orientations and change its effective length while keeping the pods securely pressed against the head area around each ear. The band includes a wire frame with parallel wire lengths that extend around the head and that have pairs of wire length end parts that are joined in loops and that are connected to the ear pods. Each pod has a mount with a 360xc2x0 groove, and each pair of wire length end parts lie in opposite sides of the groove. The pair of wire length end parts can move around the groove to change the orientation of the band, and can slide along the groove to change the effective length of the band. This allows the band to have a fixed length between the loops at its opposite ends, and function as though it were a band of variable length.
The band includes a sheath of flexible polymer material covering the middle portions of the wire lengths. The sheath has a pair of passages that each receives the middle part of each wire length. The sheath can be extruded with a pair of slits each leading from one of the passages to the outside of the sheath, and the wire length middle parts can be inserted through the slits into the passages. The wire frame is formed of a single original piece of wire that is bent, with opposite ends of the original wire butt welded together. The butt weld lies in one of the sheath passages.
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.